Lavinia's Spa Visit

Lavinia is a medium-hair-length cat of Siamese/Himalayan heritage, and she has quite a tendency to get mats. They haven't been too bad for the most part, until lately. She started getting more than I could keep up with, so I made an appointment for her with a groomer.

In the two weeks leading up to the grooming appointment, the fur down her back got matted up really badly, into a stiff spiky ridge down her spine.

Yesterday I dropped her off for her afternoon at the spa. She came home mat-free with a fine poodle cut!

I've been Frosted (thanks, Elyse and Karen!).

I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"
Death thought about it.
"Cats," he said eventually. "Cats are nice."

Well, hello, Lavinia! Your new short 'do makes your feeties look like you're wearing boots! Now your coat will be much easier to maintain without the painful mats. Could you please have your mom give you and Princess Poppaea some gentle hugs from me --- some for all your kitty-siblings!

I've been Boo'd... right off the stage!

Aaahh, I have been defrosted! Thank you, Bonny and Asiel!
Brrrr, I've been Frosted! Thank you, Asiel and Pomtzu!

"That's the power of kittens (and puppies too, of course): They can reduce us to quivering masses of Jell-O in about two seconds flat and make us like it. Good thing they don't have opposable thumbs or they'd surely have taken over the world by now." -- Paul Lukas

Aw, Lavinia, bet you are feeling much better now, pretty gal! Yes, I see the "boots" Elyse mentioned too! How fashionable!

Good job giving her a hand with the grooming, Pat. Was she nervous, did they say? I had to take my Crystal in for the first time in her life about 2 months back. She is short haired, but such a pudgy gal she can't reach much of her back, and it was that spiky ridge as you described. I used Bach's Rescue Remedy before hand to help calm her, and she did well!

Cats constantly secrete oils into their coat, and they groom to spread the oils and keep the fur nice. (I didn't know this, had to ask my vet). When they can't groom themselves, the oils build up in one place and cake with skin flakes (which are normal, we humans are also always dropping skin flakes, no a problem in itself). Don't know if you knew what the cause of it was, this was all new to me.

Lavinia at her age does not do much if any self-grooming, so her fur tends to form a lot of mats. I can work many of them out by gently pulling away bits of hair from the edges until the mat falls off, but she only stands for that for so long and then wraps her teeth around my hand.. not exactly "biting," just establishing dominance and letting me know this has to stop now.

But lately they were really starting to get out of hand, so I got a recommendation for a groomer from the vet and made an appointment. During the two weeks until the appointment date, I guess Lavinia decided to go gangbusters with the matting because that's when the back-ridge formed.. she'd never had that before.

This particular groomer's "spa" is actually the vet's clinic. Lavinia is quite laid-back and rode to the vet's with no trouble. The vet gave her a mild sedative to put her lightly under, and then the groomer was able to shave her without struggles or anxiety on Lavinia's part. She was as mellow as ever afterwards.

The groomer told me to bring her back when her fur has grown out enough and she forms her first new mat. That way we can do low-cost maintenance work.

I've been Frosted (thanks, Elyse and Karen!).

I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"
Death thought about it.
"Cats," he said eventually. "Cats are nice."

What a good girl. I've also dealt with matting issues with long haired cats. My RB Storm stopped grooming himself and now Sky seems to have also stopped. Both of them got kennel cuts which is shorter than the lion cut. Alani gets matted sometimes on both sides of his back end. He's just lazy. Luckily I can get the mats out but I do have to muzzle him while I do this. Sky may need to have to continue getting kennel cuts and he's horrible at the groomers. He now has to take a sedative before I drop him off. This is another reason why I decided to adopt only short haired cats.

Oh, Sandie, I don't have all your 13 kids' names straight in my mind, and without checking your sig I assumed Crystal was one of the fluffs. Now I looked at the sig pictures and realized she's a kitty .. my apologies for my carelessness..

How old is she? And how long is her fur? DO any of the little wooly doggies get mats?

I've been Frosted (thanks, Elyse and Karen!).

I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"
Death thought about it.
"Cats," he said eventually. "Cats are nice."

Yes, I think she is much cooler and MUCH more comfortable now. Something she seems to be doing: eating a lot more! I wonder if when there was so much tugging at her skin it was uncomfortable to sit and eat.

I can just imagine trying to muzzle her! She has a very short pushed-in kind of face.

What exactly is a kennel cut?

I've been Frosted (thanks, Elyse and Karen!).

I meant," said Ipslore bitterly, "what is there in this world that truly makes living worthwhile?"
Death thought about it.
"Cats," he said eventually. "Cats are nice."